FMI SEEKS TO LIMIT MENU LABELING

The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) filed comments last week on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) proposed rule implementing section 4205 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which requires nutrition labeling on menus of standard items in chain restaurants.

One option FDA proposed in implementing the menu labeling law took an overly broad interpretation of the language found in the original legislation. FDA categorized mainstream supermarkets without restaurants or menus as “similar” to chain restaurants. FMI urged FDA to ensure that its rule was consistent with the plain language and intent of Congress and adopt the agency’s own alternative to limit scope of the rule to restaurants with menus or establishments that are primarily in the business of selling restaurant foods.

The law helps restaurants by providing a national uniform standard that preempts various state and local menu labeling laws. However, there are fundamental differences between the chain restaurant industry and supermarkets or grocery stores. These differences have been historically recognized, as labeling regulations - such as for nutrition panels, food safety, allergens, ingredients, and country-of-origin labeling - have always been applied differently for supermarkets than for restaurants. This difference is a key reason why no states’ or municipalities’ menu labeling laws have been applied to supermarkets.

“This is a menu labeling law and was passed by Congress with that intent. Supermarkets that have chain restaurants inside stores with menus and menu boards should and expect to label those menus in compliance with this law. However, it makes no sense and certainly was not the intent of Congress to ask supermarkets to find a way to label every cut up cantaloupe, olive in the olive bar or birthday cake,” says Leslie G. Sarasin, president and chief executive officer of FMI. “This issue is not about nutrition information, which food retailers already provide on some 95 percent of retail foods, but is about the unfair application of a law to a group it was never designed for or intended to affect. FDA’s own cost analysis of the proposed rule acknowledges a disproportionate cost for supermarkets to comply with restaurant menu labeling.” Another of FDA’s options for interpreting the law fails to take into account the magnitude and the changing nature of items supermarkets would be required to label, which grossly outweigh the number of items restaurants offer. In addition, supermarkets already must comply with a multitude of laws that do not currently apply to restaurants including the Bioterrorism Act and a number of provisions of the Food Safety Modernization Act.

TARGET POSTS DOUBLE-DIGIT GROCERY COMPS

Target Corp. said that revenue at stores open at least one year rose 4.5% in June as shoppers picked up groceries and seasonal merchandise. The increase was driven primarily by an increase in average transaction size, combined with a smaller increase in transaction counts, the company said.

The discount retailer says its grocery category was its strongest performer. Target has been expanding its grocery selection, particularly with investments in its "P-Fresh" fresh-food program. Health and beauty products and clothing basics like tights and underwear were also strong.

Target's total revenue for the five weeks ended July 2 rose nearly 6% to $6.26 billion.
The Minneapolis-based retailer expects July revenue in stores open at least one year to rise in the low- to mid-single digits.

For the quarter-to-date, revenue in stores open at least one year rose 3.8% while total revenue rose nearly 5% to $11.06 billion.

ALBERTSONS TO REMOVE SELF-CHECKOUTS FROM ALL STORES

US grocer Albertsons LLC will banish self-checkouts from all of its stores in a bid to increase its customer service offer, Storefront Backtalk reports. Due to the costs involved with flooring and conduit, the retailer will be removing the self-checkout lanes relatively slowly, when stores are being remodeled.

In some stores, self-checkouts will be replaced with more express lanes. In other stores additional regular checkout lanes will be added.

BURGER CONSUMPTION ON THE RISE IN THE US

The hamburger’s prominent placement on the value menus of many quick-service restaurant chains has increased consumer demand since 2009, according to the market research firm Technomic’s Burger Consumer Trend Report. Nearly half of the consumers surveyed by Technomic said they eat a burger at least once per week compared with 38% two years ago.

US AND MEXICO STRIKE DEAL TO CUT TARIFFS BY 50%

A newly inked agreement to resolve the cross border trucking issue between the US and Mexico will immediately remove half of the retaliatory duties Mexico has applied to $2.4 billion worth of US exports, including multiple fresh produce commodities.

Government and industry leaders praised the long-anticipated agreement. U. and Mexican officials said in January they were committed to resolving the dispute.
Source: The Packer

NEW STUDY FINDS LINK BETWEEN KIDS’ BMI AND FOOD PRICES

There is a clear correlation between children’s body-mass-index (BMI) and the price of food and drink, according to new government-backed research.
The study, The Effect of Food and Beverage Prices on Children’s Weights , “supports the idea that food prices have small, but statistically significant effects on children’s BMI” conclude the authors.

“Lower prices for soda, starchy vegetables, and sweet snacks have likely led to increases in children’s BMI. The reverse is true for some healthier foods such as low-fat milk and dark green vegetables… The effect of subsidizing healthy food may be just as large as raising prices of less healthy foods.”

Conducted by Minh Wendt and Jessica Todd for USDA’s economic research service, the study contributes to a growing body of research exploring price elasticity (the extent to which changes in price impact consumption) for foods and drinks, and follows calls for soda taxes to combat obesity.
The authors looked at how prices of carbonated sweetened beverages, fruit drinks, 100% juices, low-fat milk, whole and 2% milk, starchy veg (corn, potatoes), dark green veg (spinach and broccoli), and sweet snacks affected BMI among a cohort of US children as they age from 5 to 14 years old.

They did this by linking average retail food prices (from the Quarterly Food-at-Home Price Database) with data on kids’ body mass index (BMI) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99.
Read the full study here

SAFEWAY LAUNCHES SUSTAINABLE FISH DRIVE IN CANADA

Safeway in Canada has partnered with local environmental organization SeaChoice to launch a Sustainable Seafood Policy. With the new policy the retailer has committed to source all fresh and frozen seafood from sustainable and traceable sources, or be in a credible improvement project, by 2015.

The retailer has already removed a number of red-listed species from its stores, including Atlantic halibut, orange roughy, Chilean sea bass and shark. Canned private label yellowfin tuna is also being discontinued.
Source: Planet Retail

WAITROSE PLANS LITTLE WAITROSE ROLL-OUT

UK upmarket retailer Waitrose has revealed plans to open 20 new Little Waitrose convenience stores in and around London by the end of 2012.

The retailer said that the announcement follows the successful trial of the Little Waitrose sub-brand at its Old Brompton Road store in London's upmarket south Kensington area, which opened in January.

Waitrose said the brand is designed to help shoppers “easily differentiate its convenience format from the rest of its core estate.”

GM FOOD LABELING: THERE IS AN AGREEMENT

The countries of the world ended two decades of bickering this week when they agreed to guidelines for genetically modified food labeling.

The United Nations summit of food safety regulators from more than 100 countries produced the first-ever consensus document when the United States dropped its long-standing objection to the labeling guidance document at the Geneva summit after debating the issue for 20 years.

The new Codex agreement means that any country that wants to bring in mandatory GM food labeling rules will no longer face the threat of a legal challenge from the World Trade Organization (WTO).

WALMART TO PUSH FLORIDA EXPANSION

Walmart is to push expansion in Florida with the opening of ten new stores by the end of 2013. The stores will open mostly in South Florida, and will be smaller locations of just half the size of its usual 185,000 square foot store format. Walmart Senior Manager of Public Affairs and Government Relations said the region was seen as “a big area of opportunity”, although none of the stores will be the new Walmart Express concept.
Source: Planet Retail